Parshat Noach6 min read

Shem Asked the Nations to Take the Torah for Four Hundred Years

If my Torah had been among the ten generations before this, God told Shem, I suppose I would not have drowned the world. Go and ask the nations.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. God Sent Him Out With One Question
  2. What He Was Carrying
  3. The Light That Had Already Been Taken
  4. Four Hundred Years of No
  5. A Prophecy Spoken Over a Newborn
Shem Asked the Nations to Take the Torah for Four Hundred Years Click for full size

God Sent Him Out With One Question

The water had gone down and the ground was still soft when God spoke to Shem.

"Shem, if my Torah had been among the ten generations before this, I suppose I would not have destroyed the world with a flood. Go now. Announce my revelations to the nations of the earth. Ask them whether they will take my Torah."

So the second son of Noah walked out to ask a question of people who had just buried a world. Every family he came to was descended from the eight who had ridden out the year on the water. Their grandparents had watched it happen. He was not arguing with skeptics. He was standing in front of witnesses.

What He Was Carrying

Rabbi Yose used to say it in six words. Woe to the creatures, who see and do not know what they see. Who stand and do not know what they are standing on.

What they were standing on was pillars. The pillars rest on water. The water rests on mountains. The mountains hang in the wind. The wind hangs in the storm. And the storm hangs from the arm of the Holy One, blessed be he, and has nothing under it at all.

Over their heads there were seven of them. Vilon does no work whatsoever. It comes in at dawn and goes out at dusk and renews the work of creation every single day. Rakia holds the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations, nailed where they are. In Shechakim there are millstones, and they turn, and what they grind is manna for the righteous. In Zevul there is a Jerusalem and a Temple and an altar already built, and Michael the great prince stands at it and offers on it. In Ma'on the companies of ministering angels sing all night and go silent all day, out of respect for Israel, so that Israel's praise can be heard first.

Machon is a warehouse. Snow is kept there and hail is kept there, and there is a loft of harmful dews and a loft of drops, and a chamber for the whirlwind and the storm, and a cave full of vapor, and the doors of all of it are made of fire. David asked God for mercy on the world and had those storerooms brought down to earth, because he said a thing that is evil should not lodge with a God who takes no pleasure in wickedness.

Aravot is the top. Righteousness is there, and justice, and charity, and the treasuries of life and the treasuries of peace and the treasuries of blessing. The souls of the righteous are there. So are the spirits and souls not yet born. So is the dew God will use to bring the dead back up. The wheels and the fiery ones and the holy creatures are there, and the ministering angels, and the throne of glory, and the living King above all of it, with darkness and cloud and thick fog wrapped around him.

This was the offer. A man could come out of a flooded field and be told the whole architecture, floor by floor, up to the room where the souls of the righteous are kept.

The Light That Had Already Been Taken

Ten things were made on the first day. Heaven and earth. Formlessness and void. Light and darkness. Wind and water. The measure of day and the measure of night.

The light made on that first day was not the sun. A man could stand inside it and see from one end of the world to the other. Then God looked ahead at the generation of the flood and the generation that would build the tower, saw what their deeds were going to be, stood up, and put the light away where they could not get at it.

The world itself had needed handling. At the beginning it kept spreading, unwinding like two balls of warp thread running out, until God shouted at it and it stopped where it was. That is what the name El Shaddai carries. I am the one who said to the world, enough.

The people Shem was sent to were the children of the generation the light had been hidden from. He walked into their fields carrying an account of a house they could no longer see the top of.

Four Hundred Years of No

He kept at it for four centuries. Four hundred years of walking into settlements and asking the same question, and the nations of the earth did not take it.

Prophets came after him. Job, and Eliphaz and Zophar and Bildad and Elihu, all of them out of Nahor, Abraham's brother, by Milcah. Balaam came out of the same family last of all, given a gift the size of Moses' own so that no nation could ever claim it had been shortchanged. He used it to talk, and his talk nearly ended the world, and after him the gift was not given to the nations again.

A Prophecy Spoken Over a Newborn

Ten generations ran from Noah to Abraham, and every one of them provoked God, and God held his hand the whole way down the list.

Then Reu had a son and called him Serug, and standing over the infant Reu said something nobody in the room could have used yet. "From this child, in the fourth generation, one shall be born who will set his dwelling above the highest. He shall be called perfect and spotless. He shall be the father of nations, and his covenant shall not be dissolved, and his seed shall be multiplied forever."

Shem had gone to everyone and been turned down by everyone. The offer did not get louder. It got smaller. It shrank down to one man, four generations off, still unborn, who would collect the reward of all ten generations that had refused it.

ShemNoahProphecyCreationHeavenNations
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From the tradition

Sources

5 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 6:4Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

The answer, as often happens in Jewish tradition, is layered and complex, and more than a little surprising.

In Legends of the Jews, compiled by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, the story of Balaam, the last of the non-Jewish prophets, offers a powerful explanation. Balaam's life, filled with moral failings, serves as a cautionary tale about the responsibility that comes with divine gifts. His story essentially explains why God ultimately "withdrew from the heathen the gift of prophecy."

Let’s back up a bit. The tradition tells us that Shem, son of Noah, was the first prophet commissioned to speak to the nations after the flood. Go out and share My revelations! See if they'll accept it."

For four hundred years, Shem went around as a prophet. Four hundred years! And yet, the nations wouldn't listen.

Later, others arose. The book of Job, which many scholars believe originated outside of Israel, gives us Job and his friends Eliphaz, Zophar, Bildad, and Elihu. These figures, along with Balaam himself, are said to be descendants of Nahor, Abraham's brother, from his union with Milcah.

Now, here's where it gets really interesting. The text suggests that God gave the heathens Balaam as a prophet so that they couldn't later claim they were never given a fair chance. "Had we had a prophet like Moses," they might have argued, "we would have received the Torah!" So, God provides them with Balaam, who, according to this tradition, was in no way inferior to Moses in wisdom or prophetic ability. The text is claiming that Balaam was Moses' peer among the non-Jewish world! While Moses was undoubtedly the greatest prophet among the Israelites, Balaam held a similar stature among the other nations.

Of course, there were differences. Moses was called directly by God, without any need for preparation. Balaam, on the other hand, could only receive divine revelations through sacrifices. But Balaam had one advantage: Moses had to pray to God "to show him His ways," while Balaam could declare that he "knew the knowledge of the Most High." Quite a claim!

Yet, despite his prophetic gifts, Balaam failed to use them for good. He never performed a single act of kindness. Instead, his "evil tongue" nearly brought destruction upon the world. It was this moral failing, this profound disconnect between his prophetic abilities and his ethical behavior, that ultimately led God to vow never to exchange the Israelites for another people or allow them to dwell in any land other than Palestine.

The lesson? Prophecy isn't just about receiving divine messages. It's about using those messages for good, for justice, for the betterment of the world. Balaam's story reminds us that gifts, no matter how extraordinary, are meaningless without the moral compass to guide them. And perhaps, that's why prophecy ultimately took root so deeply in the Israelite tradition, a tradition that emphasizes not just knowledge of God, but also the responsibility to act in accordance with His will.

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Legends of the Jews 4:81Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

The familiar telling remembers Shem, Ham, and Japheth, but what were their lives really like after they stepped off the ark?

The blessing Noah bestowed upon them speaks volumes. It hints at a unique dynamic, a destiny intertwined. "God will grant a land of beauty to Japheth," Noah proclaimed, "and his sons will be proselytes dwelling in the academies of Shem." (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews). It's not just about land or lineage. It's about a spiritual partnership, a sharing of wisdom. The descendants of Japheth, blessed with worldly beauty, would find themselves drawn to the spiritual depth of Shem's teachings, studying in his academies.

There's a deeper layer still. Noah's words also implied something about the Shekhinah (שכינה), the Divine Presence. The Divine Presence, Noah suggested, would only dwell in the First Temple, built by Solomon, a descendant of Shem. But not in the Second Temple, which was built by Cyrus, who descended from Japheth. What does that tell us about the relationship between these brothers and their destinies? It's a subtle, powerful statement about lineage, holiness, and the unfolding of God's plan.

What of Ham? How did he react to his father’s curse? According to Legends of the Jews, shame consumed him. He fled, building a city for himself and his family, naming it Neelatamauk after his wife. It’s a poignant image: a man driven by shame to create his own world, separate from his father and brothers.

Japheth, too, felt the pull to create his own space. Perhaps driven by a jealousy similar to Ham's, or maybe simply wanting to establish his own identity, he built a city and named it Adataneses after his wife. We see here, perhaps, the seeds of future divisions, the natural human desire for independence and recognition.

Only Shem remained near his father, building his city, Zedeketelbab, close to Noah's home by Mount Lubar – the very mountain where the ark had rested. Imagine that: the ark, the symbol of survival and renewal, looming over their lives. These three cities, each representing a different path, a different response to the world after the flood, were all situated around Mount Lubar: Neelatamauk to the south, Adataneses to the west, and Zedeketelbab to the east.

What does it all mean? This isn't just a story about three brothers. It's a reminder that even in the wake of destruction, the seeds of new beginnings, new conflicts, and new connections are always being sown.

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Chagigah 12bTalmud Bavli, Chagigah

Translation of the source text.William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic · CC-BY-NC

Why do I need the words "the earth" (Genesis 1:1)? To put the heavens before the earth. "And the earth was unformed and void" (Genesis 1:2): since He began first with the heavens, what is different that the verse goes on to recount the making of the earth? The school of Rabbi Ishmael taught: A parable of a king of flesh and blood who said to his servants, "Rise early and come to my gate." He rose early and found women and men there. Whom does he praise? The one for whom it is not his custom to rise early and yet he rose early.

It was taught: Rabbi Yose says, Woe to the creatures who see and do not know what they see, who stand and do not know on what they stand. On what does the earth stand? On the pillars, as it is said, "He who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble" (Job 9:6). The pillars stand on the waters, as it is said, "To Him who spread out the earth above the waters" (Psalms 136:6). The waters stand on the mountains, as it is said, "The waters stood above the mountains" (Psalms 104:6). The mountains stand on the wind, as it is said, "For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the wind" (Amos 4:13). The wind stands on the storm, as it is said, "Stormy wind fulfilling His word" (Psalms 148:8). The storm hangs upon the arm of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "And underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27).

And the Sages say: It stands on twelve pillars, as it is said, "He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel" (Deuteronomy 32:8). And some say: Seven pillars, as it is said, "She has hewn out her seven pillars" (Proverbs 9:1). Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua says: On a single pillar, and "Righteous One" is its name, as it is said, "And the righteous one is the foundation of the world" (Proverbs 10:25).

Rav Yehudah said: There are two firmaments, as it is said, "Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens and the heaven of heavens" (Deuteronomy 10:14).

Reish Lakish said: There are seven, and these are they: Vilon, Rakia, Shechakim, Zevul, Maon, Makhon, Aravot. Vilon ("Curtain") serves no purpose at all, but enters in the morning and goes out in the evening, and renews each day the work of creation, as it is said, "He who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in" (Isaiah 40:22). Rakia ("Firmament") is the one in which the sun, the moon, the stars, and the constellations are fixed, as it is said, "And God set them in the firmament of the heavens" (Genesis 1:17). Shechakim ("Skies") is the one in which millstones stand and grind manna for the righteous, as it is said, "And He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven; and He rained down manna upon them to eat" (Psalms 78:23-24).

Zevul ("Habitation") is the one in which are Jerusalem and the Temple, and an altar is built there, and Michael the great prince stands and offers up a sacrifice upon it, as it is said, "I have surely built You a house of habitation, a place for You to dwell in forever" (1 Kings 8:13). And from where do we know that it is called "heaven"? As it is written, "Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation" (Isaiah 63:15).

Maon ("Dwelling") is the one in which are companies of ministering angels who recite song by night and are silent by day, for the sake of the honor of Israel, as it is said, "By day the LORD commands His lovingkindness, and in the night His song is with me" (Psalms 42:9).

Reish Lakish said: Whoever occupies himself with Torah by night, the Holy One, blessed be He, draws over him a thread of lovingkindness by day, as it is said, "By day the LORD commands His lovingkindness." And what is the reason that "by day the LORD commands His lovingkindness"? Because of "in the night His song is with me." And there are those who say that Reish Lakish said: Whoever occupies himself with Torah in this world, which is like night, the Holy One, blessed be He, draws over him a thread of lovingkindness in the world to come, which is like day, as it is said, "By day the LORD commands His lovingkindness, and in the night His song is with me."

Rabbi Levi said: Whoever breaks off from words of Torah and occupies himself with words of idle talk is fed with coals of broom-wood, as it is said, "They who pluck saltwort by the bushes, and whose food is the root of the broom-shrub" (Job 30:4). And from where do we know that it is called "heaven"? As it is said, "Look down from Your holy dwelling, from heaven" (Deuteronomy 26:15).

Makhon ("Foundation") is the one in which are the storehouses of snow and storehouses of hail, and the upper chamber of harmful dews, and the upper chamber of droplets, and the room of the whirlwind and storm, and the cave of vapor; and their doors are of fire, as it is said, "The LORD will open for you His good storehouse" (Deuteronomy 28:12).

Are these in the firmament? These are upon the earth! As it is written, "Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea-monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His word" (Psalms 148:7-8)! Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: David asked for mercy concerning them and brought them down to the earth. He said before Him: Master of the universe, "You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil shall dwell with You" (Psalms 5:5). You are righteous, O LORD; no evil shall dwell in Your dwelling. And from where do we know that it is called "heaven"? As it is written, "Then You shall hear in heaven, the foundation of Your dwelling place" (1 Kings 8:39).

Aravot ("Plains") is the one in which are righteousness, justice, and charity, the storehouses of life, the storehouses of peace, and the storehouses of blessing, and the souls of the righteous, and the spirits and souls that are destined to be created, and the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future revive the dead. Righteousness and justice, as it is written, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne" (Psalms 89:15). Charity, as it is written, "And He put on charity as a coat of mail" (Isaiah 59:17). The storehouses of life, as it is written, "For with You is the fountain of life" (Psalms 36:10). And the storehouses of peace, as it is written, "And He called it the LORD is peace" (Judges 6:24). And the storehouses of blessing, as it is written, "He shall receive a blessing from the LORD" (Psalms 24:5).

The souls of the righteous, as it is written, "And the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD your God" (1 Samuel 25:29). The spirits and souls that are destined to be created, as it is written, "For the spirit should grow faint before Me, and the souls that I have made" (Isaiah 57:16). And the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future revive the dead, as it is written, "A bountiful rain You poured down, O God; Your inheritance, when it languished, You Yourself established it" (Psalms 68:10).

There also are the ophanim and the seraphim and the holy living creatures, and the ministering angels, and the throne of glory; the King, the living God, high and exalted, dwells over them in Aravot, as it is said, "Extol Him who rides upon the plains, by His name the LORD" (Psalms 68:5). And from where do we know that it is called "heaven"? It is derived by a verbal analogy of "riding" and "riding": here it is written, "Extol Him who rides upon the plains," and there it is written, "who rides upon the heaven as your help" (Deuteronomy 33:26).

And darkness and cloud and thick gloom surround Him, as it is said, "He made darkness His hiding place, His pavilion around Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies" (Psalms 18:12). But is there darkness before Heaven? Is it not written, "He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him" (Daniel 2:22)? This is not difficult: this [text uncertain]

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Hagigah 12aTalmud Bavli, Hagigah

Translation of the source text.William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic · CC-BY-NC

And Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Ten things were created on the first day, and these are they: heaven and earth, formlessness (tohu) and void (vohu), light and darkness, wind and water, the measure of day and the measure of night.

It was taught (Tanna): Tohu is a green line that encircles the whole world entirely, from which darkness came forth, as it is said: "He made darkness His hiding-place around Him" (Psalms 18:12). Vohu is the slimy stones sunk in the deep, from which water comes forth, as it is said: "And He shall stretch over it the line of formlessness (tohu) and stones of void (vohu)" (Isaiah 34:11).

This is according to Rabbi Elazar. For Rabbi Elazar said: The light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, with it a person could gaze from one end of the world to the other. When the Holy One, blessed be He, looked at the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Dispersion and saw that their deeds were corrupt, He arose and hid it from them, as it is said: "And from the wicked their light is withheld" (Job 38:15).

And Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: At the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, it kept expanding and spreading out like two balls of warp-thread, until the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked it and made it stand still, as it is said: "The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His rebuke" (Job 26:11). And this is what Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written, "I am God Almighty (El Shaddai)" (Genesis 17:1)? I am He who said to the world, "Enough!" (dai).

Our Rabbis taught: Beit Shammai say: The heavens were created first, and afterward the earth was created, as it is said: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). And Beit Hillel say: The earth was created first, and afterward the heavens, as it is said: "On the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven" (Genesis 2:4).

Beit Hillel said to Beit Shammai: According to your words, does a person build the upper story and afterward build the house? As it is said: "He who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and has founded His vault upon the earth" (Amos 9:6). Beit Shammai said to Beit Hillel: According to your words, does a person make a footstool and afterward make a chair? As it is said: "Thus says the LORD: The heavens are My throne and the earth is My footstool" (Isaiah 66:1). And the Sages say: Both this one and that one were created as one, as it is said: "My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand together" (Isaiah 48:13).

What is the meaning of "heavens" (shamayim)? Rabbi Yose bar Chanina said: That there is water (sham mayim). In a baraita it was taught: Fire and water (esh u-mayim); this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought them and mingled them one with the other, and made from them the firmament.

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Legends of the Jews 5:2Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

Think about it: tradition tells us there were only ten generations between Noah and Abraham. Ten! And according to rabbinic thought, the actions. Or rather, inactions, of those generations teetered on the brink of disaster.

The rabbis in the Talmud (Chagigah 12a) ask, why ten generations specifically? The answer isn't just a historical count. It's about highlighting God's incredible patience. Each generation, it’s said, provoked God’s wrath. Imagine the divine restraint! So much so that our sages asked why God hadn't given up completely!

Then Abraham arrives.

In Legends of the Jews, it was Abraham, our father, who "received the reward of all of them." It was for Abraham's sake that God had shown such longsuffering and patience. Wow.

And it goes even deeper. Ginzberg retells a tradition that the world itself was created for the sake of Abraham's merits. That's a lot of pressure on one person. But it speaks to the profound impact a single individual can have, not only on their own time, but on the entire course of history.

Even before Abraham was born, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us his coming was foretold. His ancestor Reu, upon the birth of his son Serug, uttered a prophecy. Imagine the scene: A father looks at his newborn son and declares, "From this child he shall be born in the fourth generation that shall set his dwelling over the highest, and he shall be called perfect and spotless, and shall be the father of nations, and his covenant shall not be dissolved, and his seed shall be multiplied forever." To be called "perfect and spotless." To be the father of nations. The weight of expectation is immense. But this prophecy, found in Legends of the Jews (and sourced from the Book of Jubilees 11:16-17), emphasizes Abraham's unique role in the divine plan.

So, what does this tell us? Is it simply a story about divine patience and a chosen individual? Or is it a reminder that even in the darkest of times, hope remains? That even when generations falter, a single spark of righteousness can ignite a new beginning? Maybe it’s a little of both. And maybe, just maybe, it’s a call to each of us to strive for that "perfect and spotless" ideal, to become the Abraham of our own generation.

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